Category: Articles

Video calls, once just a way of saving money on international calls, are now indispensable in everyday life. Social networking sites are used by almost everyone, regardless of age. With online communication now a major part of our lives, does the way we use language play the same role as it did in the past?

What are ‘role words’?

When watching Japanese anime, manga or literary works, have you ever been surprised by the many expressions the characters use, which are not covered by Japanese teaching materials? For example, Son Goku from Dragon Ball calls himself オラ (I), but not many Japanese actually call themselves that. Such expressions are called 役割語(やくわりご) (role words). They are used to describe the character of the speaker. Originally, it was a language usage that came from a particular region, social class or occupation. While it is possible in English, for example, to express a person’s social class and background through intonation and vocabulary, in Japanese the first person pronouns and choice of sentence endings can express a person’s characteristics in more detail, such as gender, age and occupation. There are so many different types of first person in Japanese that even a Japanese linguist cannot fully grasp them, and there are around 70 types available on Wikipedia alone.

The usefulness of ‘role words’ in reality

Do role words only exist in the world of fiction? In fact, they are also used in reality.

Just as there are expressions that express respect for the other person, such as 尊敬語(そんけいご) (honorific expression) and 謙譲語 (けんじょうご) (humble expression), there are also expressions that are more intimate and casual. For example, parents of young children refer to themselves as パパ(dad) or ママ(mom) and add the sentence endings〜だよ, 〜だね, etc, to make them feel closer to their children. This type of talk does not take place in conversations between adults.

Another traditional communication strategy in Japan is to take advantage of gender stereotypes. For example, LGBT male celebrities use role words such as あたし, 〜よ and 〜だわ, which are reminiscent of chatty middle-aged women, to soften the intimidation of harsh comments. Female writers sometimes use masculine pen names and role words such as 僕(ぼく), 〜だろ and 〜かよ, without revealing their identity, to avoid harassment and unfair underestimation. Most people accept those personalities as false. Do they accept them silently because they are afraid of clarification or confrontation? No. No one is harmed by the lies, so the truth does not need to be stated. In Japan, things that are not sincere and are coated with lies are frowned upon. On the other hand, excessive prying and demands for disclosure of the truth are also known as 野暮(やぼ) (overzealous behaviour) and are a form of bad manners. This peculiar sense of justice allows for the retention of ambiguous identities.

Since communication on social networking sites has become mainstream, the act of “retaining a virtual persona in the public eye”, such as Vtubers, has become more widely accepted. These are no longer just about avoiding discrimination and prejudice against individuals, but are creative activities for their own sake. They are attempts to establish a more familiar and universal status by assuming visuals and settings that are like a common language of the community.

The real world is now more simulation than virtual reality

There is well-known data that wealthy people have one thing in common: they have rich parents. Life in the real world may be predictable to some extent by looking back on the status and deeds of our ancestors. In the metaverse, it is possible to avoid labelling based on physical characteristics or status and maintain a more personal and organic identity. In such an environment, the ability to communicate verbally will play a more important role. Self-introductions that only aim to convey information, such as “I am an office worker” or “I enjoy yoga”, can give the impression of being mechanical and opaque. on the contrary, using such phrases may lead to people being inadvertently categorised. In order to express your humanity in a richer way, try to think about your 言葉遣い(way of using language) that is unique to you. Information such as occupation and hobbies may no longer be the most important things for building real online relationships. By all means, take advantage of the lessons and observe the role words used by native speakers.

Reference:
Japanese pronouns. (2022, 22 May) in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_pronouns

Yakuwarigo. (2022, 24 May) in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuwarigo

Nowadays podcasts are the one of the popular methods to learn new language. Today I’m talking about learning Japanese in podcasts.

Podcasts and language learning go hand in hand. You don’t have to sit at a desk all the time, you can learn wherever you are with your smartphone. If you have a busy day or lack the motivation to study, you can use your early morning or bedtime to get to grips with your target language. It’s not just about learning, it’s about staying motivated and inspiring new ideas.

As you can see, it’s easy to point out the benefits of podcast itself, but how do podcasts fit in with learning Japanese?

How can podcasts help learn Japanese

According to the “Survey of Overseas Japanese Language Institutions” conducted by the Japan Foundation every three years, the most common motivations for studying Japanese are “interest in Japanese culture (modern and historical)” and “interest in the Japanese language itself”.

It is a curious phenomenon, that people living outside of Japan have the opportunity to become interested in Japanese culture before they understand the Japanese language. In other words, the Japanese language is probably already a familiar part of life in your country, before it is deliberately acquired through learning. Needless to mention about anime and manga, you may already be familiar with the names of Japanese companies such as Toyota and Nintendo, and words with Japanese roots such as Ninja, Tsunami, and Kaizen. It’s always better to make use of existing knowledge in your learning. Podcasts allow you to gain a comprehensive knowledge of a language without having to separate worlds for cultural understanding and formal language learning. After all, the podcast is an effective way for learning Japanese online.

In the next section, I will introduce my Japanese podcast that can be used for learning regardless of age or gender. If you haven’t used podcasts to study Japanese yet, or if you haven’t found your favorite Japanese podcasts, I hope you will find this useful as a starter. 

How to pick the best Japanese podcasts for you

Please check my podcast on my profile. I started this podcast at the suggestion of one of my students. It was originally distributed on an external website, and I started uploading it on italki from episode 12. I talk about my daily events in about 3 minutes, using natural expressions commonly used by Japanese people. The content is aimed at intermediate learners, and each episode comes with a transcript and an English translation (due to the character limit in the italki community, please see my website for the full transcripts and translations: japanesemayuna.com). I upload a new episode every week.

Many language-learning podcasts, like my podcast, consist of chats or lessons by a single host. Some podcasts have more than two hosts or have a different guest to interview each time, but if you are not an advanced level learner, I recommend a podcast with no more than two fixed hosts so that you’ll be able to get used to the flow.

Another important factor in choosing a good podcast is the frequency of updates. The newer the information, the better. If the update schedule is regular, you can use it as your learning schedule. The length of an episode is also important. For example, a podcast that is more than 60 minutes long, no matter how great the content is, may be difficult to focus on if you are often interrupted by urgent work or children. Think about when and under what circumstances you will be listening to the podcast, and examine the length that best suits your lifestyle, without causing you strain. That’s the key to continuing.

Here are some really good Japanese podcasts (and YouTube channels) which I recommend. Some of the hosts are online Japanese tutors you can book lessons with: 

Nihongo Con Teppei – Japanese Podcast for Beginners, Japanese with Noriko, YuYuの日本語 Podcast, Japanese Ammo with Misa, Let’s Ask Shogo

Are you ready to start using podcasts to study Japanese? Even if you’re already using them, try the tips in the next section to make podcasts more effective for language learning.

Tips for learning Japanese using podcasts

Here are some of the most effective ways of using podcasts that I have heard from my students in lessons:

Listen while you walk

One of my students said that she is able to concentrate better if she listens while walking outside rather than sitting still in her room. The positive effects of serotonin and exercise on the brain have been highlighted by many experts, so it’s worth a try. If you’re too busy working or studying online to exercise, getting into the habit of listening to podcasts while you walk can help you get outside more effectively. By improving your lifestyle, you will not only improve your concentration but also your motivation to study.

Listen repeatedly

Another method is to listen to the same episodes incessantly without concentrating on the content as if you were listening to music until you can recite them. This may seem pointless, but it is actually a very effective way of developing your sense of rhythm and syntax. Once your sense is developed, you will start to feel uncomfortable when you see unnatural Japanese sentences. In fact, my student, who taught me this method, is very good at making sentences. Even when he learns a word for the first time, he can immediately come up with a natural way of using it.

Listen in your native language

Just because you are learning Japanese doesn’t mean you have to choose only native Japanese podcasts. There are many non-Japanese hosts who know the language better than native speakers. If they share the same mother tongue as you, they will have a greater sense of empathy for learning Japanese and may be able to pick out the most common mistakes of yours. They may sometimes give incorrect explanations, but from a learning point of view, it’s not a waste of time. It gives you the opportunity to check the truth by yourself and ask questions in the lesson.

Conclusion

Do you usually use podcasts for your Japanese learning? Or maybe you’re already tired of wading through vast information on the internet to find the best podcast for you. If so, try to find a teacher who hosts a podcast, and join their class. Podcasts hosted by the teacher you usually have lessons with must be a special learning source that has been personalized for you from the outset.

Electronic reference:

Japan Foundation. “SURVEY REPORT ON JAPANESE-LANGUAGE EDUCATION ABROAD 2018” (2020), Objectives of Japanese-language learning, [https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/project/japanese/survey/result/survey18.html]

What is the maximum number you can read in Japanese? Can you use Japanese numbers Kanji correctly? Let’s review the key points with explanations and charts. Then, you can easily count numbers in Japanese from 1 to 10, 20, 100, 1000, 10000, and higher.

The reading of numbers is one of the most elementary units in language learning and is an essential part of daily life. I often find that even upper-intermediate learners struggle to recall them. Numbers are more complicated than they look. The more digits you have, the more confusing it can be, even in your own language, and even more so in a second language. This is a good opportunity to make sure you know how to read Japanese numbers.

Japanese nouns do not have a plural form, so instead of changing the form of the noun, we use a unit called 数助詞(すうじょし) to express the number. For example, to describe the length of a swimming pool, we say “50m”, but in Japanese, there is an equivalent “m” for each noun. This is 数助詞. Some 数助詞 change the way you read numbers, but we won’t go into that in this article. In this article, we will focus on the common ways of reading numbers, such as those used in mathematical expressions.

How to count numbers from 1 to 99 in Japanese

The rules for counting numbers are very simple. There are no irregularities such as “-ty” or “-teen”, even when the number of digits increases. The numbers 1 to 10 are read as いち、に、さん、し/よん、ご、ろく、しち/なな、はち、きゅう、じゅうand these rules are basically followed. For example, 12 is pronounced じゅうに (じゅう+に), 20 is pronounced にじゅう (に+じゅう) and 22 is にじゅうに (に+じゅう+に).

There are two ways to read 4 and 7, し/よん and しち/なな, and this is where learners of Japanese are most likely to make mistakes. The table below shows when to use which one.

Both readings of 4 and 7 are correct when they are single digits, and the same applies to the single-digit part of a two-digit number. For example, the number 14 can be pronounced either じゅうよん or じゅうし. However, when 14 is pronounced as じゅうし, it is easily mistaken for 17 (じゅうしち), so じゅうよん is more common.

Counting over 3 digits-numbers in Japanese

I’m going to explain the exceptions to the pronunciation rule. For example, the number 100 is pronounced ひゃく /hyaku/, but it can be pronounced びゃく /byaku/ or ぴゃく /pyaku/,depending on the number that comes before it. The pronunciation of 6 and 8 may also be different from when read alone. These features appear in 3 and 4 digit numbers. The number chart below summarizes this.

The letters 10, 100 and 1,000 are pronounced じゅう, ひゃくand せん. The pronunciation of 1 is omitted unless it is said with particular emphasis. However, from 10,000 onwards, the 1 is pronounced as in いちまん (ten thousand) and いちおく (hundred million). In Japanese numbers, the name of the unit changes every four zeros after ten thousand.

Japanese numbers in Kanji

In Japanese, in addition to numbers, you can also use kanji to represent numbers. For example, the numbers 1 to 10 are 一、二、三、四、五、六、七、八、九、十. You may have seen the notation 壱、弐、参、肆、伍、陸、漆、捌、玖、拾 before, but this is a special notation called 大字 (だいじ). It is used on important documents and banknotes and is intended to prevent forgery and falsification by making the kanji characters that have fewer strokes more complex. It is sometimes used for proper nouns but is rarely used as a numeral in daily life.

There are no clear rules about when to use numbers and when to use kanji, but it is more common to use numbers when expressing dates, times, and amounts in daily life. For example, 12月31日 (31st December), 午前7時 (7am), 4,500円 (4,500 yen). The problem with using numbers in Japanese is that Japanese keyboards have 全角数字 (ぜんかくすうじ), which are numbers that fit into the Japanese character width (square shape). For example, if you use 全角数字 to represent the 31st of December, it will be the １２月３１日. Numbers with the same character width as the English alphabet (vertical rectangular shape) are called 半角数字 (はんかくすうじ). Because 全角数字and 半角数字are recognized as different symbols by computers, Japanese online services often have problems recognizing addresses entered using半角数字.

This time we went over the basic pronunciation of numbers and kanji. As I said in the intro, this is not the whole explanation of numbers in Japanese. The most difficult part of reading Japanese numbers is数助詞. First of all, learn the basic rules and gain confidence in reading numbers.